"I am convinced that the fight for the family, and the free citizen, and everything decent, must now be waged by the one fighting form of Christianity." - G.K. Chesterton

Ad Jesum per Mariam

...if you genuinely wish to reach a high level of prayer in all honesty and without falling into the traps that the devil sets for those who pray, SAY your Rosary everyday... St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort

Monday, December 30, 2013

I did not know before that chastity also pertains to the
purity of thinking against impure thoughts aside from sexual ones or thoughts
that will effect sexual excitement. What I knew before was chastity is purity
of mind and body against sexual excitements which are sinful. Now, thank God, I
know that chastity also is purity of thinking against negative or bad thoughts
and purity of speech.

But because I am in my way of living a life of unmarried
chastity, I think unmarried chastity must be understood first.

Unmarried chastity is a calling from God not to dream nor
desire married life in order for a person to become in full service for God
alone, living in love of God and of neighbor, especially serving and loving all
people for the service and love a person gives for God. Unmarried chastity is a
challenge of God to anyone who will devote themselves fully for the sake of the
kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:11-12) and a “special” grace directly came from
God in order for a person to see all people with love and mercy which is the
love and mercy God has towards all people, making this person a shepherd for
all the sheep, whom God loves (Matthew 9:35-38). Practically speaking,
unmarried chastity is as if a person is an angel, and because he is like an
angel, he must forever live as if he has no sexual organs and has no material
body. Unmarried chastity is living an angel-like life. We who lives this life
do not burden ourselves with the problems of the world but we are the solution –
givers, flying like an angel to attend to all people especially in their needs
that must be attended by us – and that is our burden – to become like angels in
love and in life serving people whom God loves.

That is really hard. See this. A husband loves his wife and
vice versa. While we who lives an unmarried chastity life will become “husband”
to all people which we will treat as our “wife!” And we are not sure if our “wife”
will love us back! But we do not worry for God’s love will be our “wife” and,
God’s love will turn these people to love us “husband” as God wills, and as we
pray. It is also hard for our sexual organs are just for urinating and
poop-ing. And an exception for women, no baby can gain even a drop of milk out
of women’s breasts (because they are virgins). See? To live a life of unmarried
chastity is really hard. But this pureness of life that we live is worth it.

As for me, unmarried chastity is really hard but liveable. I
do not have “crushes”. The battle is in the imagination. I cannot imagine
myself having sweet contacts with women in my mind for it will damage my
unmarried purity. I cannot imagine being in company of women either. If these
imaginations enter my mind, I eliminate them out and I fight by imagining
heavenly matters. Now I believe unmarried chastity will always be attainable.

The love of God is what gives us the balance to live as we
will not have husband or wife to love. The love of God is our husband or wife.

And for those who have a husband or a wife now, live a
married chaste life.

For those who live an impure life, there is always a life of
purity for you to live.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Objection # 1: All priests must not become exorcist for they
are so busy with their pastoral functions as priest.

Objection #2: Further, some of them are not called by God to
do this laborious and dangerous ministry.

Objection #3: Further, they can become holy, perfect, and
merciful like the heavenly Father without becoming an exorcist.

Objection #4: Further, the bishops are already exorcist
themselves.

Objection #5: Nowhere in the Holy Bible that all priests
must become exorcist.

Objection #6: There are so many priestly duties greater than
laboring in the exorcism ministry.

Objection #7: There are few or no reports at all about
possession, oppression, demonic-obsession, and even infestation whereas
originating on demonic causes therefore this exorcism ministry must not be
looked on with so much emphasis or concern.

Objection #8: Many of the priests are doing their functions
already with faithfulness, fidelity, honesty, and loyalty to their superiors,
the Church, and to God, therefore, there’s no need to become exorcist.

Objection #9: The laity and the pagans can be converted and
become holy without the priests becoming exorcist.

Objection #10: All of the priests are greatly afraid and a
bunch of cowards. They cannot be able to fight Satan and his demons. They will
certainly die!

Objection #11: All priests are just priest and priest means “one
who offers sacrifices”. Therefore it is not there obligation nor must they be
selected to become exorcist.

On the contrary, Jesus Christ Himself is a priest and not a
bishop unlike his twelve disciples and apostles who were bishops in the sacred
scriptures.

I answer that, although it can be solidly said that the Lord
is God and of course He Himself is not a bishop, nevertheless, bishopric is
just an office or position like what the twelve disciples had. All bishops are
priests and the only thing they differ from all the priests of today is that
they have the fullness of the priesthood of the Lord not like the priests who
are just elders or presbyters of the laity. Therefore, like Jesus Christ the
Eternal Priest who in His Gospels done a one-third ministry of exorcism
recorded in the sacred scriptures, all of the priests are exorcists and must be
given an office of their respective bishops to exercise exorcism.

Reply to Obj. #1: Exorcism ministry is also a pastoral duty
and therefore it must also be attended by all the priests. Their becoming busy
is not sufficient if they will not minister to those are who more or less in
the verge of losing their souls to the devil and who are being attacked by
undetected and invisible enemies of the Faith. They must also do this ministry
for they have power to do so, and they are really called to hit million birds
with billion stones. It is a great stupidity to say that all the priests are
busy for all of us are busy, not just them. They are not special, and therefore
they are not different from us laity.

Reply to Obj. #2: All of them are called to this ministry of
exorcism the thing is they do not listen to God by being sensitive to their
gifts, talents, and coins they had received from the Master. They received
their power to drive out demons when they became priests right after their sacred
ordination. If they will not labor for this laborious and dangerous ministry of
exorcism, they will be, like in the Gospels, be thrown to the hellfire where
there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

Reply to Obj. #3: This is impossible for in striving to
become holy, perfect, and merciful like the heavenly Father, the devil is
always there to drag away the priests from striving to perfection. All of us
are engaged in the Spiritual Warfare. Therefore to those who were vested by the
priesthood of the Lord, it is necessary to exercise their right to become
exorcist where holiness and perfection is required and practiced thus having
the strength to destroy the devil, and where merciful is greatly manifested
towards those persons who were under the power of Satan.

Reply to Obj. #4: Bishops are exorcist themselves for they
have the fullness of the priesthood of the Lord. Nevertheless, there are so
busy with supervising everything in their respective dioceses that they do not
have time to do exorcisms themselves. There must be, aside from the Bishop, to
exercise the power to drive out devils from the dioceses’ parishes that were
being taken care of the priests. Therefore, all the priests must become
exorcist.

Reply to Obj. #5: As I said above, Jesus Christ is the
Eternal Priest in the sacred scriptures. Although priests are all human,
nevertheless, it was said that, “You are a priest forever according to the
order of Melchizedek.” Therefore all the priests will not lose their identity
as priest even in eternity. And as priests, they have the talent to drive out
demons like what the Eternal Priest did in His earthly life. Therefore all of
them are exorcist, even if by word-for-word, you cannot search it in the Bible.

Reply to Obj. #6: Laboring on the Ministry of Exorcism is
also a great priestly duty for it was said, “The Son of God was revealed to
destroy the devil’s works (1 John 3:8).” Therefore, it is also the great duty
of the priests to labor on this ministry for they are the Alter Christus or the
Other Christ and therefore called to invoke the revealed God in order to
destroy the devil’s works who are our enemy from the beginning and the cause of
evil we have today. Priests must labor on this root of all pastoral ministries for
it is the great reason why we have the seven great sacraments – Baptism to wash
away the original sin; Confirmation to be solid in destroying the devil’s
works; Eucharist where the intimate relation of human race to God is restored; Matrimony
where the original will of God to the man and woman is made clear and right (Genesis
3:24-25) without malice where man and woman are supposed to know that they must
be a home of innocence and holiness just like Adam and Eve before these two
fell into original sin which must be guarded against after the Sacrament is
understood; Holy Orders where it brings back in sacredness what God has
created; Confession where it heals the fruits of original sin and brings back
the person to God’s sanctifying grace against Satan’s deadly sin; and Anointing
of the Sick where it restores the health and goodness of the person from
sickness which is the fruit of original sin.

Reply to Obj. #7: Actually, there are so many reports that
were junked, tagged, and belittled as psychological and psychiatric problems or
concerns. The Gospel reports about Christ driving out demons and helping those
oppressed by the enemy is still much greatly needed in these modern times for
the world of course is not as little as the world of Christ where He had done
exorcisms in His place and in His time before.

Reply to Obj. #8: As if it happens today. If they are really
so, then, they will be zealous for the Gospel and on laboring for it and on laboring
on what was said by God in the Gospels. There lack of faith in God that God
will help them in driving out demons is very lacking in them. What happens in
our Church today is rooted on the sad, poor, and sorry state of the
spirituality of the priests. Even the Church authority, I believe with
greatness, has not done his very best in saving and pastoring zealously for
souls. Even themselves are not faithful, honest, loyal, and conformed towards
the sacred scriptures whereas unorthodoxy and heresy which kills so many souls
is contagious and it’s on its height. All of them, all of their actions are not
solidly against the world. The world eats them up.

Reply to Obj. #9: Again, this is impossible. You cannot
become holy without battling wickedness and the devil. Our first Christians did
exorcisms that were seen by many pagans which led them into conversion and
Christianity. Lack of the exercise of the exorcism proves that the priesthood
is stupidity and a joke today. How can you also burn the hearts of many to
enter the religious life when the priests of today are not holy and serious in
their priesthood? Therefore all priests must become exorcist to become
frontrunners in living a holy life while battling the devil and his works.

Reply to Obj. #10: That’s the great reason why all of the
priests must become exorcist. So that, their faith and boldness in laboring for
God will be greatly manifested. They must be salt and light of the earth so
that is why they must not hid their respective works in a bushel basket. They
must be seen illuminating on the top of the mountain for all cities to see.
This will test and prove their great faith towards God, in laboring in this
ministry of exorcism.

Reply to Obj. #11: This ministry of exorcism is one of their
greatest offering to God. Their sacrifices in laboring for this ministry and
their offering of all the prayers, all the hardships, and all the sufferings
will be a great sacrifice most pleasing to God if this ministry is effective
and efficient in saving souls that are greatly loved by God. Therefore, all of
the priests must become exorcist so that their sacrifices offered to God will
be in its utmost greatness and abundance and in turn will give them
indescribable blessings and graces from God for their faithfulness to Him and
to God’s instituted ministry of exorcism.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

First, it is very mysterious that St. Elizabeth knew,
without given knowledge beforehand, that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother
of God and the person she carries in her womb is God. Mama Mary’s every word
that comes from her mouth indeed contains Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit, the
Spirit who is in St. John and who filled St. Elizabeth is the Spirit that
recognizes the Mother of God and the Son of the Most High faster than the speed
of light. St. John’s jumping for joy the moment he heard Mama Mary’s greeting
is a sure sign that the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ is inseparable to
one another and Mary is indeed the cause of our joy. This is also a great proof
for us that Mama Mary is our Co – Redemptrix for this is the honor she got from
St. John the Baptist. St. John jumped for joy for “God is with us” and Jesus
whose name means “God saves” can be heard in Mary’s words. For every word that
comes from the Blessed Virgin’s mouth proclaims “God is with us” and “God saves”.
Mary’s Advent and words that St. John heard and caused him to jump for joy, says
“Redemption is here!” and “God is with us!” We had been redeemed through Mama
Mary who carried the God who will redeem us in her womb. Indeed, the Blessed
Virgin Mary is our Co – Redemptrix.

Second, those persons who have the Holy Spirit in themselves
honors and blesses the Mother of God and God Himself. For those who do not
honor nor bless the Mother of God but honors and blesses Jesus Christ do not
have the Holy Spirit in themselves. A man who has the Holy Spirit in him
blesses, honors, and loves the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Today we remember the Advent of Mama Mary in Guadalupe where
she chose an Aztec as her preacher by the name of St. Juan Diego.

The Gospel for today tells us the Advent of Mama Mary to her
cousin St. Elizabeth who was saved by God from infertility and public shame.
Mama Mary, we are told, greeted St. Elizabeth and we can deduce that our
Blessed Lady came in haste to St. Elizabeth’s home for she also wants to
rejoice together with her cousin who unbelievably, like her, became pregnant by
the power of God. The difference between these two women is that Mama Mary is a
virgin while St. Elizabeth has a husband St. Zechariah. Mama Mary’s greeting to
St. Elizabeth is a greeting of salvation, rejoicing, marrying, celebration, and
Christmas because the time of infertility, dryness in the desert, and waiting
for the Lord’s Advent had ended. Mama Mary’s Advent to St. Elizabeth is a testament
and great evidence for us that Mama Mary is the bringer and bearer of Life for
us. Not that Mama Mary is the reason why St. Elizabeth became pregnant but
because Mama Mary is the mother of the Eternal God who is Life Himself and the
One who made St. Elizabeth bear life in her womb that was barren for so many
years.

And when St. Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the preacher
of the Advent of the Lord St. John the Baptist jumped in her mother’s womb. St.
John the Baptist jumped for joy because he heard the Word of God that was
preached by Mama Mary when she greeted her mother St. Elizabeth. That’s why
every word that comes out in Mama Mary’s mouth is the Word of God and Jesus
Christ Himself. Every word of Mama Mary contains Jesus Christ. That’s why Mama
Mary is a preacher herself and the Queen and Mother of all the preachers. Mama
Mary’s words are joy.

Then St. Elizabeth, filled with the Love between the Father
and the Son, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among
women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb...” St. Elizabeth was filled with
wonder and amazement for the mother of God visited her, what a great privilege!
What more can St. Elizabeth say when the Tree of Life and the Ark of the
Covenant (Revelations 11:19) visited her? For sure she will die out of fright
and of joy! Thanks to the Holy Spirit that filled her and helped her to bless
the Mother of God and God for without Him, St. Elizabeth will die! Mama Mary
brings and grants salvation for she carries in her womb the Salvation Himself,
Jesus Christ. St. John the Baptist, the preacher of the Advent of the Lord,
jumped for joy as he heard the preaching of Mama Mary that contains the Word of
God who is his cousin and the one he will be going to preach about someday.

St. Elizabeth blesses Mama Mary again for her faith on the
preaching to her by St. Gabriel which came from God, would be fulfilled. Who
can’t imagine that this Mama Mary, an unassuming woman, will be the mother of
the ancient promised Messiah?

Then Mary’s soul preaches the greatness of the Lord and her
spirit rejoices in God her Savior for she was saved by God form the stain of
original sin and death. Mama Mary (Revelation 11:19) is the fulfilment of the
Old Testament (Judith 13:18) where God guided her blow at the head of Satan the
chief of all demons. Mama Mary’s immaculate feet crushes the head of Satan in
accordance to God’s will (Genesis 3:15). That’s why we must strive to become
immaculate for we are Mama Mary’s feet that will crush and cast out (Revelations
12:10) Satan and his demons. Let us bless Mama Mary and the fruit of her womb
Jesus for through her, now have salvation and power come (Revelations 12:10).

So let us bless the Immaculate Conception and the fruit of
her womb Jesus Christ as we pray their Holy Rosary everyday as we say, “Hail
Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and
blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us
sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

Let us call on our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the
soldiers of Life! St. Juan Diego, pray for us.

Here are some points to consider:

1 We must make ourselves become deserts and dry especially
this season of Advent like what St. Elizabeth did before Christmas.

2. Let us empty ourselves with everything that concerns
worldliness and materialism.

3. We must not stupidly mistaken Advent as Christmas.
Remember that there are time for these seasons that must be properly observed.

4. Let us all be bearers of Life!

5. “Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight his paths.”

6. “O womb in which was conceived the living heaven, wider
than the wideness of the heavens.” – St. John Damascene

7. Pray the Holy Rosary everyday!

“Jesus, I trust in You” “O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee”

Thursday, December 12, 2013

The Gospels and the whole sacred scriptures itself are the instructions of God for all "angels" who lives in human flesh. These words for us are our angelic wings so that we can still fly around God our Creator and the Lord of Angels even we are "angels" who are still living on this earth. These words of God for us serves as our instruction that even if we are "angels" but in human flesh, we may go beyond our earthly conditions and take these not too seriously but to take these more lightly.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

MEDITATION: I am very
delighted to share you a homily I heard today in Monasterio de Santa Clara,
Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City. The homily was given by a young – looking Franciscan
priest. I will share it and will have “little enhancements” of my own.

The Gospel for today tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ’s
Advent for us is an angelic relaxation from heavy human laws or any
man-invented unnecessary orders that were designed for us and under obligation
to follow suit. But we have also an Advent of our own to God for He invites us
to come to Him who will give us an angelic rest. I think this is very
troubling. How can Jesus Christ give us rest where in fact, even His commands
and words are hard to do? Were not they? But that is the angelic point of
Christ. His commands and words may seem for us hard for it is really so and too
much a burden if we are worldly, materialistic, world – minded, material –
minded human beings. The Word of God Jesus and His words of course will give a
real burden for us if we stupidly burden ourselves with things and matters that
all are worthless in eternity or in eternal life. And it will really be a
burden for us if we are agitated and anxious about things and matters that has
no connection to God; has no connection with the salvation of our souls and of
others; has no connection to the greater glory of God; has no connection to the
charity we are obligated to act upon for our neighbor who are in need; has no
connection to the corporal and spiritual acts of mercy that we must do like to
feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, to instruct the ignorant, to pray
for the living and the dead, and many others. All of this stupidity that really
burdens us is too much revolving around on what is human, wicked, sinful, and
what will excite and comfort our senses and wants that were material greediness
at all. Worldly people will be really burdened by the world for they live a
worldly way and not in a Godly – angelic way. This is same as to the worldly
truth which is science and worldly life which is human or self – centered life
that were both contrary to the Godly – angelic Truth that was revealed for us
and Godly – angelic life that is living a life of poverty or poor in spirit,
simplicity, prayer, charity, and faith that will let us fly to eternal life.

That’s the soul and spirit of our Gospel for today. To
follow God and to act on His words will unburden ourselves and will certainly
give us angelic rest for God said so; our false worldly freedom will really
burden us not the way we thought it that this will give us relaxation nor rest
but will just burden us and leave us restless. To obey God’s will gives true
Godly – angelic freedom – a freedom that will be hurtful and painful but will
definitely lead us to God and in His promised eternal life. Our labor for God
and for our neighbor will certainly burden us but God will give us angelic
rest.

Let us take God’s yoke and put it in our shoulders and learn
from His teachings in the Gospels and instructions for Jesus Christ is patient
in enduring long – suffering and He is humble of heart. In acting on God’s
words, we will definitely find angelic rest for ourselves for we will realize
that in obeying His words and acting on them, we will see that we are flying
and floating like the angels for God’s way is the way of the angels. So, we
must live like the angels, I mean, the good angels.

The Gospel teaches us that we are like angels in a human
flesh provided that we are not living in sin and we are following and acting on
God’s teachings and instructions while working, laboring, and living on this
world by God’s ways and not by human ways. We are like angels, but because we
are in human flesh, we feel burdened and restless of course. That’s why we must
live like the angels who can take themselves lightly for they have wings. The
Gospel is intended for us humans so that even we are humans; we can be and live
like the angels. The only difference we and the good angels have is we humans
get exhausted, get tired, and even worst, to sin against God and against our
neighbor. We must live an angelic – life by living the Gospels, and by doing
so, we will notice that the Gospels are our wings that will let us fly and
float around God like the good angels do. So let us relax and rest in the
shoulders of our God, the Lord of Angels.

And last but not the least, we must not let ourselves labor,
be burdened, and be restless in the world by becoming worldly that will let us
sin. For if we live and die in a burdening sin, we will definitely fall down in
hell having Satan and his bad angels as “loving” companions. So let us not live
on this earth like a fallen angel. For if we live like that, we will definitely
fall and suffer eternal damnation.

Let us unite ourselves to the Angelic Body of God in the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass only if we are pure like the good angels who have no
sin. So, if you are a fallen angel at this very moment, run and go to the Sacrament
of Confession!

Again, we are like angels living in a human body. Our wings
are the Gospels and the Most Blessed Sacrament, and our feathers are the pages
of the sacred scriptures, the sacraments, the sacramentals, and many more.

So this will be my parting words my angelic – like brothers
and sisters: Our earthly bodies must stay here but our soul must be always in
heaven.

“Jesus, I trust in Thee” “O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee”

I just thought of this: If the holy name of God "Jesus" means, "Yahweh saves" or "God saves", and this Son of the Most High is the Eternal Wisdom of God, would not it be nice to save your to-be human mother Mary from any stain of original sin? If God in His Eternal Wisdom thought that this to-be mother of Him is a human being, for sure in the Old Testament, I am very sure that In God's words, God really saved the Blessed Virgin Mary from original sin from the very beginning of her conception in St. Anne's womb. For if the idea of God of course occur in His Eternal Wisdom that will be the Incarnate Wisdom, this to-be mother of the Incarnate Wisdom must, right from the start of her conception, be saved from the touch of original sin. Why God must do that? Because "God could do it, it was appropriate, therefore He did it." Not only she saved His to-be mother from the touch of original sin, God's salvation came to her from His Eternal Wisdom that eternally thought Her, from the very beginning, from the very beginning of all existing created things. If she, Mary, is the full of grace, is not it the one who made her full of grace is God alone and from the very beginning of all existing created things Mary was made full of grace in the Eternal Wisdom of God right from the very beginning of all things? Therefore, Mary is the most brilliant created thing that ever existed. Not the angels. Nor us humans. Nor even galaxies. Nor even this earth. It is Mary alone. It is Mary, from the very beginning. Although Mary is not God, she already existed, even in God's Eternal Wisdom. How special Mary is!

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen."Jesus, I trust in You" "O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee"

"St. Dominic encountered heretics on his way to France. In his opinion was that the people were not to blame - the preachers were. If there are good, orthodox preachers, then the people will be good and orthodox also. So, he founded the Ordo Praedicatorum - Order of the Preachers...."

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The Parable of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18: 12-14)Eureka! Eureka! I have found you! I have found you!

MEDITATION: The Gospel for this Tuesday shows us that Jesus
Christ is asking for our opinion. We are told by our Lord that a sheep had gone
astray leaving its 99 fellow sheep that a man owns. The man here is our God and
the sheep who had gone astray is a fellow of us loved so much by God but he
walked all alone without God and without us his brothers and sisters who were
together with our God. We see how God leaves just for the only one who had gone
astray to search him, while leaving the other 99 sheep. The 99 sheep that God
left do not shows that they can stand on their own without God; it just so
happens that God left them in search for the only one who had gone astray, the
other 99 sheep was left by God in a safe place where they can roam around
without straying, they were in that safe place of God as if God is still with
them for they are still cared where they were, even if God left them for the
one and only sheep that was gone astray. How important that lost sheep is! But
do not dare to be lost too like that of the lost sheep so God may find you too
and rejoice for you, for God will punish you severely if you've done this.

In God’s Advent or arrival for us, let us be always
sensitive enough to know that He is looking for us. He is in search for us. What
are we doing to repay that untiring search of God for us? Let’s look also for
God for we can hear His searching call for us. We can hear His voice in, take
note, every moment of our lives. What we must do is not just to hear Him but to
listen to Him. We can see God every day, provided that we just don’t notice
that He’s just there, but also we must look for Him for He is there for us. We
must seek Him.

But do not tell me that you are now doing what I said above.
Maybe in yourself you see God and you know He sees you, but it is just the eyes
that sees. It is just the eyes that see the outward appearance. What is
important here is to ask you yourself: Do God found me in my heart? Do I found
God in my heart? For do not deceive yourself I tell you. You cannot found God
if you do not see Him with your heart. In finding and searching God, it is the
heart to be used, not the eyes. God sees you of course and He always found you
for He is always in search for you. For know that, “Happy are the pure of heart
for they will see God.” He always found you. The question is: have you found
Him? I think the sound judgement will be made after you seek His forgiveness in
the Sacrament of Confession.

But God will not cease to find us. That’s how great the love
of God for us. When you know in yourself that you found God who is always in
search for you, know that God found you first before you found Him. He will
rejoice now that He brought you back in Him and to us your brothers and sister
sheep. In God’s rejoicing on having you again, we your brothers and sister will
rejoice together with God! That’s how important you are for Him. And for us, we
know that to you who were brought back by God, we must also rejoice and know
how important you are for God!

In our Gospel, we must know that in order for us not to
stray, we must be with the Church always, having Jesus Christ as our shepherd.
Our heavenly Father does not will or intends anyone of us to be lost. God wills
that everyone must be found through Jesus Christ. Our Lord is the Way, the
Truth, and the Life.

You, what is your share on searching and looking out for our
lost brothers and sister? Have you done your part in bringing them back to God?
For know that we are our brother’s keeper.

“Jesus, I trust in You” “O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee”

"St. Dominic encountered heretics on his way to France. In his opinion was that the people were not to blame - the preachers were. If there are good, orthodox preachers, then the people will be good and orthodox also. So, he founded the Ordo Praedicatorum - Order of the Preachers...."

Monday, December 9, 2013

MEDITATION: Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate
Conception where the Blessed Virgin Mary was saved by God from original sin
from the beginning of her conception in the womb of St. Anne. Mary the Mother
of God’s soul was made immaculate or saved from original sin by God for if it
was not made so from the beginning, then it will appear that Jesus Christ will
be stained by sin from the beginning of His conception in Mary’s womb for the
soul is the one who carries the original sin, and the soul who is in original
sin will damage its relation to the human flesh thus making also the human
flesh impure for the soul is darkened by impurity, malice, and loss of innocence,
just what had happened to Adam and Eve after they ate a fruit of the Tree of
Knowledge. Then even if the only thing Jesus Christ need is humanity that will
be taken from Mary’s human flesh, Jesus Christ Divinity and humanity united
together as one will be stained or compromised by original sin which Mary had
if Mary is not Immaculate Conception. Jesus Christ has two natures. He is
Divine and He is human. Jesus is a Divine Person and His Divine Person will be
united with Mary’s human person thus making His Person God-man, where His
Divinity now becomes His nature and not anymore His own Person. We can see how
great the humility of God is! He compromised His Divine Person when He took His
humanity in Mary. Now His Divine Person is not anymore His Person alone but now
a part of His own Person which is called Divine nature as God-man, and as
God-man, another nature is human. If Mary is not Immaculate Conception or even
full of grace, Mary’s humanity will compromise and stain with sin the Person of
the God-man Jesus Christ, if Mary’s soul is not made immaculate by God from the
very beginning of Mary’s conception in St. Anne’s womb. God willed that from
the beginning, Adam and Eve be holy and without blemish before Him (Ephesians
1:4). Now, if that is God’s will from the very beginning before the foundation
of the world, is it not very fitting to begin again and to have a New Adam in
the Person of Jesus Christ who will be born of Mary, the New Eve?

Adam is immaculate and so is Eve before they fell from sin.
Jesus is immaculate of course and so His mother Mary because Mary is full of
grace and she has found favour with God. Grace and sin cannot be united to each
other. Then how much more is the Immaculate Conception Mary who is full of
grace herself? Is not it right to believe that Mary is the Immaculate
Conception and she is without original sin?

But how the Immaculate Conception began? The Immaculate
Conception began when God said it and He did it. God said the Word and He did
it. The Immaculate Conception began in God’s Eternal Wisdom that this
Immaculate Conception will champion the purity and innocence Adam and Eve lost.
God said it in Genesis that the Immaculate Conception and the serpent will have
enmity against each other and even between the offspring of the serpent and of
hers; the Immaculate Conception will strike at the serpent’s head while the
serpent strike her heel. If there is a continuous battle between Mama Mary and
Satan and between her children and his children, how can you arrive at a diabolic
conclusion that Mary is not the Immaculate Conception?

Indeed, Mama Mary is Immaculate Conception and she is full
of grace!

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are
you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother
of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

“Jesus, I trust in You” “O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee”

MEDITATION: The Gospel for this second Sunday of Advent shows
us the Advent of St. John the Baptist whose Advent is for repentance and
acknowledgement of sins. We are told that St. John preaches in the desert where
God and Satan meet. Here in the desert, a person meets God as his strength and
life alone where this person’s life is solidly relying on God alone. Here in
this same desert, Satan meets God and the person of God so that this person
must be tested if he is really a repentant sinner and will solely be with God
fighting Satan. This is the same condition of the people who meet St. John to
receive the baptism of repentance. But the story I gave above for similarity is
different from the story of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They came for St. John
to be baptized but St. John exorcises the hidden devil in them and to bring
this hidden evilness of them in the open. These Pharisees and Sadducees
according to St. John, were a family of vipers or relatives of snakes for in
their evilness and sins they made themselves children of Satan the serpent and
brethrens of demons the snakes; they also poisons the people with their
respective venoms of zealousness for traditions that were not of God;
negligence, ineptness, and incompetence in working in God’s vineyard; making
philosophy greater than or above theology; giving too much importance to
external holiness rather than interior holiness which must be the first one to
be corrected and checked always; being devoted to the law of God but losing
faith in God making themselves hypocrites, being experts to the law, becoming experts on misinterpreting the
law or selecting and/or rejecting legal traditions or laws that suit their
tastes or freethinkers in matters of religion without having interior holiness above all else. These Pharisees,
Sadducees, and the scribes are our Church authorities and governments today and
I pray you understand why I said that they are those people of today.

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to St. John but not because
they are repentant sinners but because of their arrogance and again, their
faithful observance of external holiness or external acts of holiness. That is
why St. John exhorts them t produce good fruit that will become evidence of
their repentance. Which must be really hard for St. John requires them to
produce good fruits as evidence that they were truly repentant sinners and they
must show that really, they are turning themselves away from sin and making
resolve to reform their lives before acknowledging them before all that they
are repentant sinners and worthy to be baptized by water of repentance. That is
why we must show our repentance by not sinning again and again and making
resolve to reform our lives from being a sinner of evilness to being a sinner
yet in holiness and perfection; and not by false acknowledgement of our
constant sins because of sinning constantly and going constantly to the Sacrament
of Confession, confessing the same old sins again and again. Our good fruit we
produce must be rooted on the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

These family of vipers in the Gospel and of today must not
presume that they have Abraham as their father by blood, or by law, or by
promise of God to Abraham and to his descendants as their arrogant claim
without understand that if they are really the descendants of Abraham, they
must be children of him not just by blood but also of Spirit and the seven
gifts of the Spirit that was read in our first reading for today (Isaiah
11:2-3), and also of faith and holiness. In this regard, because of their sins
and evilness, their father is Satan and not Abraham. That’s why even God can
raise descendants of Abraham out of stones. Then what more are the Gentiles who
are not Jews like them and are much greater than stones? Will God not raise
descendants from the Gentiles? Of course God will raise descendants out of
them!

Every person will wait for judgement or even condemnation
that lies in our bases as beings and if we do not bear good fruits we will be
uprooted and be thrown into the hellfire. St. John the Baptist baptizes water
for repentance but Jesus Christ will baptize by the Holy Spirit and fire that brings
forgiveness of sins to the sins we have repented and burns the original sin we
have in us, and purifies us to enjoy forgiveness and salvation of God. Jesus
Christ is having the judgement in His hand. He will gather the righteous ones
into His barn but the deadwood will be burned into the hellfire.

So in this season of Advent of our Lord and even every
moment of our lives where He Advents for us, let us prepare the way of the Lord
in us as individuals, as a family, as a community, as a society, as a nation,
and as a world, and let us straight His paths in us for God is with us, so it
is just fitting that we become worthy of God’s belonging of Himself in us.

“Jesus, I trust in You” “O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee”

Sunday, December 8, 2013

I realized that doing Apologetics is
really a hard job. Not because you must learn your faith as much as you can,
but because you are catering souls that do not understand what the faith really
is. I am very grateful to hear from Sir Edgardo "Chief" de Vera, the
founding director of Defensores Fidei Foundation, that when you do Apologetics,
you must have empathy towards the other person you dialogue with about faith,
and you must know the beginning of him/her why and how he/she arrived at such a
decision or conclusion like say, for example, that he/she has an argument that
the Catholicism is a false religion. In Sir Chief's brilliant words, an insight
came to me while meditating on what he said. I thought about the first chapter
of the Holy Gospel of St. John where he started by the words, "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God..." It became crystal clear to me that what Sir Chief said makes sense
for even God wants Himself to be clear in us so that we might understand who
and what God really is from the beginning in order to go through His mysterious
person as God; same as we must do when we do Apologetics with our
"straying" brethren.

It is very fitting that
the concluding ceremony we had for today happened on the time of Advent. Why I
say so? For it is very fitting on this season that we meditate upon the reality
that we exist because we must arrive and share and proclaim our faith to others.
We must not too focus on the Advent or the arrival of the Lord but on the Lord
who will arrive to us and for us and on this Advent season, we are called to
have our Advents on the people around us, we must arrive at them for we have
the Lord in us by the burning hope and love we have for God.

Apologetics is also part
of the beginning of Christianity not just what I first thought that only exorcisms
of the ancient times gave excitement to those pagans to be baptized when they
saw how powerful the God of Christians is when the name of God was invoked to
cast out those demons that the pagans thought and worshiped as gods.
Apologetics rooted on the person who knew God and about God and defends God
when He and about Him are questioned in the open. Apologetics is not just an
emphasis on defending what you believe for you defense is already an offense.
It is not a gesture of cowardice but a bold gesture of bravery for you do
mighty deed for the greater glory of God.

Last but not the least;
Apologetics must be done in charity or love and out of love. Not that false
love that you compromise what you want to say on defending what you hope for
where you let your neighbor live in error for both of you cannot arrive on the
Truth which is the conclusion of all, but the love that sees what your straying
neighbor wants, an understanding and compassion that he/she needs to enjoy the
gift of the Kingdom of heaven here on this earth. Apologetics must be done out
of love in order to purify also yourself from doing Apologetics where you
believe that your straying neighbor just needs a solid knocking on his/her
head, and on doing so you are in a false fire of devotion to the faith. We must
be always on guard against impure intentions of ours when doing this great
ministry of Apologetics. Again, it must be done in love and out of love for our
neighbor whom we must love just as we love ourselves.

To my colleagues in this
ministry of Apologetics, may God let Himself be our garment for action in
working for Him for His glory and for His Kingdom.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Pope Francis to visit the Philippines in 2014 or 2015?

Fr. Francis Gustilo SDB is the sole current Filipino member of the International Theological Commission and the third-ever Filipino to have been appointed to that august body (the other two having been Fr. Catalino Arevalo SJ and Fr. Luis Antonio Tagle, who would later on become Bishop of Imus, then Archbishop of Manila and Cardinal.)

He posted the following status on his Facebook page in the morning of the 7th of December, Manila time. As it is now being widely shared on Facebook I believe that the news can be considered to be sufficiently public to be also posted on this and other blogs.

FRESH, FRESH NEWS FROM THE VATICAN.

Two hours ago, all the members of the International Theological Commission {ITC} went to the Apostolic Palace {palazzo apostolic} where the Holy Father has his office.

Alas dose en punto, there he was with us, smiling, waving, feeling so relaxed. Now here are the real news!

[1] During his short speech to us, he did not simply read the prepared text but became extemporaneous. {a} the theologian must be pioneer not a soldier staying in the military barracks; he must be at the frontlines! {b} the theologian cannot have beautiful theological lessons with a heart that is dry; theology is not merely the mind speaking but the heart burning; {c} the theologian must teach catechism to the children especially the poor; St Ignatius {"I am not promoting with this my Ignatian roots"} told the Jesuits that they ought to teach catechism to the youth

[2] Each one was given time to kiss his hand and say some word tete-a-tete. When I approached him, he told me: "Oh, the Filipino I met yesterday at Santa Marta!" I replied: "Holy Father, thank you so much for helping my suffering people and specially for praying for them and encouraging others to help our devastated country." And he immediately added: "I will visit your country, it is in my agenda. Only I am not sure whether next year or at the end of 2015. But don't worry I will be with you all".

There you are. What better news can I send than meeting our highest spiritual leader, having a wonderful exchange of kind words and being assured that he has the Filipinos at heart!!!!

Friday, December 6, 2013

The Compassion of Jesus/ The Mission and Commissioning of the Twelve (Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5-8)The Proclamation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew

[35] And Jesus went about all the cities, and towns, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease, and every infirmity.

[36] And seeing the multitudes, he had compassion on them: because they were distressed, and lying like sheep that have no shepherd. [37] Then he saith to his disciples, The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. [38] Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest. [1] And having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities. [5]These twelve Jesus sent: commanding them, saying: Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not. [6]But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.[7]And going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand.[8]Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils

The Gospel of the LordPraise to you Lord Jesus Christ

MEDITATION: The Gospel for today shows us the Advent of God
to His Church Israel. The Eternal Word, the Bread of Life, and the Eternal
Living Water Jesus Christ went around to all places doing acts of compassion
and mercy to His people. But the Advent of God to them was not enough. Why I
say so? It is so because the people were many in number and they are troubled
and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd. God’s Advent to them is really a
consolation. But why is it that they are still troubled and abandoned? It is
because they were in hunger and thirst for the Eternal Word that is both the
Bread of Life and Living Water Himself. Aside from that, they lack of people
who will take care of them. There are people that must be there that will take
care of God’s sheep so this will not stray and fall into a pit. Out of Jesus
Christ mercy towards His people He told His disciples that the harvest is
abundant but the workers who will labor for these are few; so ask the master of
the harvest to send out laborers for His harvest. We can deduce here that harvesting
these abundant people is a laborious task to do. In our world today, the
laborers of the Lord in His kingdom are still few. Now, let’s ask ourselves.
What am I doing about this? For don’t tell me that these problems that Jesus
Christ said in His Gospel do no longer exist. We are still in lack of workers
who will labor laboriously and painfully in God’s Kingdom! That is why we must
pray to God that He sends more people that will work alone in His service and
in His kingdom. I think you can also deduce here that these laborers must
embrace a life of unmarried chastity. So let us pray and ask God to send more
religious or victors of God that will labor for His harvest. The naive question
we can dare to say is after all, it is God’s harvest. Why must we bother? It is
because His harvest includes us – His laborers. So, if you will not work for
God’s harvest, then don’t expect that God will include you to His harvest,
rather expect that He will belong you to the weeds for burning, where there
will be wailing and grinding of teeth – it’s hell.

Then Jesus Christ the Authority Himself gave His disciples
authority over unclean spirits or demons and to exorcise them out and to cure
every disease and every illness. We can deuce here that the mission of Jesus
Christ and the disciples is a ministry of exorcism, deliverance and liberation;
and ministry of healing where these both lies on the ministry of compassion,
mercy, and love. I remember what an exorcist said about exorcism which is a
very good meditation in increasing Jesus Christ in us and we must decrease in
ourselves. Fr. Michell Joe “Jojo” B. Zerrudo, an official exorcist of the
Catholic Church said in one of the documentaries about exorcism where he was
featured, “I think that is the essence of exorcism. That it is not an arrogant
display of Divine Power but is actually a display of Divine Love [towards the
person afflicted by the enemy.]” This applies to the power bestowed by both
Christ and the Church upon the disciples’ actions within the ministries of
compassion, mercy, and love.

Now, Jesus Christ sends the disciples on their mission,
giving them instruction that they must first minister on the people of the
Church especially the straying ones and so strengthening them first before
going to a gentile territory or a Samaritan town thus doing these in obedience
to the command of Christ “not to give what is holy to dogs or throw pearls
before swine for fear that these will be trampled underfoot and turn and tear them
to pieces. This command is also applicable to our fellow Christians who
hardened their hearts on listening and obeying the commands and demands of the
Gospel that was preached before them. We Christians must first strengthen each
and every one of us before entering a gentile territory or a Samaritan town. We
must be of one mind and of one heart in everything that we pray, believe, and
live. For if we are not yet strengthened as we must be because we are a Church
of the Lord, what can you expect from the gentiles?

As we preach the Gospel, the people must see and hear in us
that ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand’. We individuals who comprises the
Church of the Lord must make our very best that everyone sees and hears us must
know that the kingdom of God is near for our mission as a Church is the Advent
of us to all peoples and giving them the foretaste of the kingdom of heaven,
doing this by curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, driving
out demons by the power of God.

Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi – The law of prayer is
the law of faith is the law of life.

“Jesus, I trust in You” “O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee”

[21] Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. [24]Every one therefore that heareth these my words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock,[25]And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock.

[26] And every one that heareth these my words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man that built his house upon the sand, [27] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof.

The Gospel of the Lord

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

MEDITATION: The Gospel for this Thursday tells us that even
if you have the Holy Spirit that lets you to call God, “Lord” or lets you to be
firm in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and on calling upon Him is not enough
for you to enter the kingdom of heaven. We are told by Lord Jesus that the only
one who does or acts the will of His Father in heaven will enter the kingdom.
We can deduce that to have the Holy Spirit in us for us to be able to call God,
“Lord” is not enough. We can also deduce that if we have the Holy Spirit and we
believe so, we must work and act, according to the will of the Father in
heaven. But how can we act if we do not know the will of the Father in heaven?
A person of good will or a man of good will knows what God wants for him to do.
He is struggling to be always sensitive as much as he can in order to know the
will of the Father for him. He is doing this by the Holy Spirit or prayer that
connects us to Jesus Christ who is the One who will mediate for us to the
Father, for the Holy Spirit is the prayer that enables us to know the will of
the Father in heaven. That’s how important is the Holy Spirit our Spiritual
Director, when it comes to discerning!

We are also told by the Lord Jesus that for everyone who
listens to His words and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his
house on God who is the Eternal Rock (Isaiah 26:4), and Jesus Christ the
Eternal Word is the Eternal Rock Himself. Those who listen to the Word of God’s
words and acts on them build’s his house on Jesus Christ who is the cornerstone
Himself who was rejected by the builders (Psalm 118:22). Now, if God is your
rock and you are solidly rooted on Him because His words crawled intimately in
your mind and heart, how strong are you now? So, do not let yourself become a
fool who listened to the words of God but did not act on it where he is
scattered by God like a sand because of his arrogance and conceit of heart
(Luke 1:51). A person who acts o God’s words is a person who chooses to become
anawim or poor in spirit that is, whose richness, wealth, and property is God
alone. If we are solidly standing on God our Eternal Rock, how then are the
people on their high places, and the arrogant city compared to us (Isaiah
26:5-6)?

In Psalm 118 verses 12-27 of this Thursday, the Eternal Rock
Jesus is thanked for He is the strength and savior of us who is our rock and
refuge. At God’s Advent, we are encouraged to be victors or righteous ones of
God that will enter the gates of holiness where we will thank the Lord, for we
became holy because we listened and acted on God’s words that made us strong
like a rock. And in our arrival or Advent to the world, we pray that we bear
the name of the Lord because of our listening and acting on God’s words by our
preaching in words and deeds. And we pray that when our Advent to the world as
righteous ones of God begins, may the world say, “Blessed is he who comes in
the name of the Lord.” For God is granting salvation to everyone who welcomes
the bearers of salvation of God and it is us – the just people of God whose
trust is set solidly on Jesus Christ the Eternal Rock.

Here are some points to consider:

1 We can all say that everyone is a good person but not all
of them are a person of good will. A person of good will knows how to live and
act on the will of the Father in heaven. He must be filled with the Holy Spirit
(Luke 1:39-45) in order to bless the Blessed Virgin Mary and also to bless the
Word made flesh in her womb which is the Eternal Rock Himself. A righteous
person or a person of good will greatly knows that it is truly right and just
to proclaim “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” to the Blessed
Virgin Mary for she came in the name of the Lord and not only that for she bore
in her womb the Lord Himself and not just the name of the Lord. A good-willed
man must possess the Holy Spirit who will let him to be in the state of
sanctifying grace that exorcises sin which is the spirit of the devil. The will
of the Father is for us to be a person of good will who lets the Holy Spirit to
live and act in us and not us in ourselves.

2. A just, righteous, or holy person is person who is a
sinner in his entire earthly life yet not sinning but doing and acting the
words of the Word of God that makes him holy, righteous, or just. In short, a
holy person is a doer of righteous deeds that makes him holy, yet he is a
sinner but not sinning.

“Jesus, I trust in You” “O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee”

The Healing of Two Blind Men (Matthew 9:27-31)The Proclamation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew

[27] And as Jesus passed from thence, there followed him two blind men crying out and saying, Have mercy on us, O Son of David. [28]And when he was come to the house, the blind men came to him. And Jesus saith to them, Do you believe, that I can do this unto you? They say to him, Yea, Lord. [29] Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it done unto you. [30] And their eyes were opened, and Jesus strictly charged them, saying, See that no man know this.

MEDITATION: In the Gospel for this Friday, we are told that
Jesus Christ was followed by two blind men who wanted to be healed by Him from
their lack of sight. Jesus asked them when they approached Him, “Do you believe
that I can do this?” We can behold that this is a question of faith of God in
us and God’s faith on our faith in Him; anticipated healing that is to come to
the two blind men and is waiting for an affirmation from these two who prays to
have sight, to which they answered, “Yes, Lord.” They put their faith on the
Eternal Word that if they believe in this Eternal Word and on His words that
bring healing and salvation, they will be freed from their affliction. And it
so happened. As the Eternal Word touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done to
you according to your faith”, their eyes were opened. They were healed by the
touch of the Eternal Word and His words and their faith in Him, their faith
that God will show mercy to them and save them. We can deduce here that our
faith changes us, and if not, then something is wrong with us. Our faith in God
and in His words changes us or transforms us. For our faith is solidly leaned
on the Lord, and if according to God’s will and want, will be a chance for the
Lord to change us or transform us.

Faith is a two-way traffic. The other road is our faith in
God. Our Advent or arrival towards God is a cry of us to be changed and
transformed by Him. While on the other road is the faith of God in us. God’s
Advent or arrival of Him for us is a question for us if we want to be changed
or transformed by God according to our faith in Him. Therefore, it is really a
two-way traffic of faith. Of course it is important to have faith in God but
most important here is the faith of God in us and the faith of us in God’s faith
in us. Faith opens our eyes to the Light which is the Eternal Word Jesus
Christ, and the Light opens our eyes because of our faith. If our Light is
Jesus Christ in the midst of gloom and darkness that surrounds us, to whom
shall we fear? To whom shall we be afraid of?

The two blind men whom Jesus Christ healed were not blind
anymore. When their eyes opened, Jesus Christ warned them strictly that they
should see to it that no one should know about what had happened between them.
This warning of our Lord is very peculiar and funny. I know that God knew from
the very beginning that after He gave them a strict order not to report what
had occurred between them, they will definitely report what had happened. For
how can you contain your wonderment and joy after you were healed and saved by
God from your affliction? How can you contain the indescribable joy that you
felt and made you overwhelmed when you saw God face-to-face? How can you not
spread the word about Him and what great miracle he has done for you? How can
you not share the fruits of what you have contemplated when you saw God
face-to-face? Pardon my being subjective and biased for I greatly believe in my
deduction that this Gospel, the Psalm 27:4-10, and Isaiah 29:23-24 of today’s
readings apart from the Gospel talks about the Dominicans on how they pray for
Light against the darkness of sin, error, heresy, and ignorance; how they
praise, bless, and preach the Lord; how they contemplate and give to others the
fruits of what has been contemplated by them; and how they spread throughout
the world the Truth about what really happened to them after reading the
Eternal Word, the Truth which is Jesus Christ Himself.

The Dominican mottoes:

Veritas – Truth

Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare – To praise, to bless, to
preach

Contemplare et contemplata aliis tradere – Contemplate and
give to others the fruits of what has been contemplated.

“Jesus, I trust in You” “O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee”

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The Healing of Many and the Feeding of the Four ThousandThe Proclamation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew

29]And when Jesus had passed away from thence, he came nigh the sea of Galilee. And going up into a mountain, he sat there.[30]And there came to him great multitudes, having with them the dumb, the blind, the lame, the maimed, and many others: and they cast them down at his feet, and he healed them:

[31] So that the multitudes marvelled seeing the dumb speak, the lame walk, and the blind see: and they glorified the God of Israel. [32] And Jesus called together his disciples, and said: I have compassion on the multitudes, because they continue with me now three days, and have not what to eat, and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. [33] And the disciples say unto him: Whence then should we have so many loaves in the desert, as to fill so great a multitude? [34]And Jesus said to them: How many loaves have you? But they said: Seven, and a few little fishes.[35] And he commanded the multitude to sit down upon the ground.

[36] And taking the seven loaves and the fishes, and giving thanks, he brake, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the people. [37] And they did all eat, and had their fill. And they took up seven baskets full, of what remained of the fragments.

The Gospel of the LordPraise to you Lord Jesus Christ

MEDITATION: The Gospel and the first reading for today very
well compliments each other most perfectly. We can deduce in the Gospel that
the crowds who followed Him on the mountain and who desires to cure their sick
and was healed by Jesus Christ had undergone an inescapable hunger for staying
in the company of the Lord that can be likened to an inescapable fasting-like
hunger. We can also deduce here that there is a hidden revelation of the Holy
Eucharist and its indescribable greatness after the Resurrection of God took
place. The people “fasted” with Jesus Christ for three days and on its third
day He gave them bread and fish and all of them were satisfied. This is same
with the Holy Eucharist and Resurrection. Jesus Christ “fasted” for three days
and on the third day He, the bread and the fish Himself, was raised. Jesus
Christ knew that if He will let the people go or if He will send them on their
mission in hunger without sustenance and nourishment the Holy Eucharist gives,
they will fall on the temptations of Satan and his demons, the people will
collapse in sin, sickness, error, and death.

“Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place
to satisfy such a crowd?”, was a worrying and striking question of the
disciples to Jesus Christ’s unthinkable and kinda “stupid” statement where it
shows a very great revelation for us that this Gospel is a miracle and not like
the other way around where it was stupidly interpreted by modernists or
liberation theology supporters and their same feathers of the same birds who
all flocks together in heresy and error. This question of the disciples proves
the fact or truth that this is a miracle for how can the people share the bread
or fish they have if there is nowhere to get those? How can the people share
the bread or fish they have if in reality, they have none? For modernists and
liberation theology people this Gospel, they all believe, shows just the value
of sharing, generosity, brotherly love, or caring for one another. They do not
believe that this Gospel is nothing more than what they believe; therefore,
this Gospel has no miracle. Now, you can fully know how stupid are the
modernists and liberation theology people when it comes to misinterpreting the
Gospels, letting their selves live in heresy, error, sin, death, and damnation.
For them, the Gospel is just showing the value of sharing. How stupid they are!

The disciples had seven loaves of bread and a few fish. We
must all know that in Jewish numerology, seven means perfection or
completeness. So, if that is so, then, in this Gospel, we can deduce that the
Holy Eucharist and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead completes and
gives life to all the seven ritual Sacraments that we have in the Catholic
Church. In this Gospel, it shows that the Holy Eucharist is the source of life
of the seven Sacraments. And how great must we value the fragments of the Holy
Eucharist! Jesus Christ is the Alpha of the Holy Eucharist and He is also the
Omega, where the fragments of Him is also seven baskets full – again, the completeness,
richness, and greatness of the perfection of the Holy Eucharist that was made
perfect in the Resurrection of God and, together with the Holy Eucharist, they
perfected all the seven ritual Sacraments.

The Psalms (Psalm 25:6-10) for today gives a striking
revelation for us regarding the Gospel. On verses 6 to 8, we can deduce that
this refers to the Body of Christ and Christ Himself who died on the cross thus
destroying the veil of the Temple (Matthew 27:51) that symbolizes the sin that
“veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations; He will destroy
death forever (Psalm 25:7-8). This reveals that the 3 o’clock of His death on
the cross and on the third day when He was Resurrected is the Alpha and the
Omega of life, for in Christ’s death on the cross, we had life; and on the
Resurrection of Him from the dead completes that life of ours thus completing
and perfecting everything like what God did on the seven-day Creation of
everything; it completes and perfects also the seven Sacraments that give life
to all people here on earth, serving as our oxygen tanks here while we are
still on this earth and while we are all not in heaven yet.

And last but not the least, verses 9 to 10 of Psalm 25 may
be likened to the priest’s words while elevating the Body and Blood of Christ
before the Holy Communion. Here, we can deduce that the Holy Eucharist indeed
is the summit of the mountain and source of everything for everything sources
from it; for the “hand of the Lord” which is the Holy Spirit who lives in the
Church, sanctifies and gives life to everything that were included in the
Church, while Moab or the enemies of God will be trodden down in a mire-like
place called hell.

Every day when the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered,
everyday is Advent for in those moments, God arrives here on earth. Therefore,
know that when you attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, it is always Advent.

“Jesus, I trust in You” “O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee”

Overheard from the Pulpit on E-mail

The Queen Mother and the King

ST. DOMINIC DE GUZMAN

"He encountered heretics on his way to France. In his opinion was that the people were not to blame - the preachers were. If there are good, orthodox preachers, then the people will be good and orthodox also. So, he founded the Ordo Praedicatorum - Order of the Preachers...."